Fifteen feathers

"Buzz, buzz--" Ye Linghan felt a vibration in his palm. He lowered his head to check and saw a message coming from the black avatar frame.

YC: “Where?”

He just said... two simple words, and Ye Linghan couldn't guess what he was thinking.

"Comrades, go upstairs and take a nap first. We'll start work when it's dawn." Su Mo encouraged them.

"Um..." Ye Linghan slowly raised his hand, "Can I go home?"

Su Mo was puzzled. He looked at his watch and turned his head. Yao Qingluan also looked over curiously. "Is there something wrong at home?"

Unable to articulate a specific reason, Ye Linghan could only vaguely answer, "Well, a little."

Su Mo didn't ask any more questions, "Do you want me to take you there?"

Ye Linghan quickly shook his head, "No, no, this isn't far from my home, I can go back by myself, you guys should get some rest."

He didn't know whether it was far or not, but he was afraid that if Yin Chen was nearby, it would ruin his chance to get a ride.

Fortunately, Su Mo didn't force it, and just nodded. "Okay, then be careful. Since you're an intern, it's not easy to be here so late. You don't have to come early tomorrow. Make sure you get enough rest, but try not to be late."

"Okay." Ye Linghan responded, opened the door and got out of the car. The streets were very quiet at this time, with neon lights mixed with starlight sprinkled on the road. It was a rare peaceful and quiet place, and everyone was immersed in their dreams.

A touch of silver-gray on the side of the road caught Ye Linghan's attention.

He was right, Yin Chen really came.

The driver next to the car saw Ye Linghan's figure, leaned over to the half-open window and said something. The window slowly rose, isolating everything inside.

Ye Linghan approached, and the driver nodded, "The young master is waiting for you inside."

"Okay." He responded with a smile.

The moment the door opened, Ye Linghan immediately adjusted his mood and tried his best to answer Yin Chen's questions calmly.

"Young Master, aren't you going to rest yet?" Ye Linghan took the initiative.

He stole a glance at Yin Chen and saw him leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed, his chin slightly raised, revealing his slender neck.

Ye Linghan looked at Yin Chen, his Adam's apple rolling up and down unconsciously. He admitted that he was lustful.

"How long do you want to watch?" Ye Linghan's fantasy was broken as the car started.

“No, no…”

"If you don't want to see me, who else do you want to see?"

"No, it's not."

Oh my, Ye Linghan was about to collapse. This young master really did what he wanted.

"Have you forgotten what day it is today?" Yin Chen asked him without continuing to act unreasonably.

Huh? Ye Linghan was startled. What day was today? He thought about every holiday he could remember, from top to bottom, inside and out. He even thought about his first visit to the Yin family, but it had nothing to do with this date.

He racked his brains for a long time but couldn't come to a conclusion, so he took the initiative to confess, "Excuse me, Master, what day is today?"

But after waiting all the way, Yin Chen didn't say a word.

It wasn't until the car stopped at Ye Linghan's residence that Yin Chen slowly spoke. He reached out and tapped the back of the driver's chair with his index finger. The driver turned around, confused, and said respectfully, "Boss."

"The baffle goes up."

"yes."

The driver was shocked to hear this. He never thought that he was woken up by Yin Chen to drive because he was in a daze, and forgot to shift gears for a moment. He just begged Yin Chen to show mercy and not deduct his salary.

But fortunately, Yin Chen didn't seem to care.

Ye Linghan was just about to move to help Yin Chen open the car door, but Yin Chen grabbed his thigh and said, "Don't move." The cold feeling in his palm made his heart tremble.

Is this person's body temperature like a chameleon, changing at will...

The door beside him was opened, and before Ye Linghan could take a step forward, Yin Chen leaned over and picked him up by the waist.

"You..." Ye Linghan was afraid that he would fall, so he subconsciously grabbed Yin Chen's neck and buried his face in his neck.

His attitude towards Yin Chen is becoming increasingly vague. He doesn't know if it's because of the changes in his heart that have affected his judgment. He always feels that in recent times, his relationship with him seems no longer pure and has some color.

Ye Linghan was carried steadily by Yin Chen all the way to the bedroom, put him on the bed, and then pressed on him without saying a word.

"You..." Ye Linghan was a little panicked. He always felt that Yin Chen was acting so recklessly, as if he was planning some big move. However, one of his hands was placed on Yin Chen's chest, pretending to retreat, but in fact it was to better attract the prey.

"Can you at least tell me what day it is today?" Since he couldn't remember, he would ask clearly. It's not too late to mend the situation. Just treat it as preparation for Yin Chen's inexplicable questions next time.

"It's time to accumulate energy..." Yin Chen suppressed the restlessness in his heart and answered perfunctorily.

"Ah? Um..." Facing Yin Chen's attack, Ye Linghan could no longer control himself. He raised his neck and sank together.

At eight o'clock in the morning, Ye Linghan dragged his tired body into the Investigation Office and ran into Su Mo who was eating breakfast and Yao Qingluan who was sorting out documents.

"Oh! You have such big dark circles under your eyes. Didn't you sleep well?" Su Mo looked at him.

Ye Linghan nodded randomly, "Yeah, I'm sleep paralyzed."

"Oh~" The two nodded meaningfully, and it was unclear whether they understood or just responded casually.

"This is your workstation." Su Mo pointed to the side.

There was a wooden table by the window, which was kept clean.

"Want to have breakfast?" Yao Qingluan asked while picking up a bag of buns.

Ye Linghan didn't hesitate and nodded as he took it. "Eat it, thank you."

After getting up in the morning, Yin Chen originally asked the chef to prepare breakfast for Ye Linghan, but he thought it would take too long and was afraid of being late for work, so he hurried out without having time to eat.

The three of them were discussing the case while eating breakfast. With one more person present, the whole room felt more lively and humane.

Yao Qingluan looked at the report in her hand and said, "Judging from the appraisal report that just came in, this matter is not simple."

"What do you mean?" Ye Linghan asked.

Yao Qingluan handed over the test report. After Ye Linghan took it, his eyes quickly scanned it from top to bottom, "Zhao Xingjian, died of excessive blood loss?" He raised his eyes and looked at Ye Linghan in disbelief.

The report clearly stated that the man had hallucinated three days ago due to excessive blood loss, locked the car door himself and died. The preliminary diagnosis was suicide.

"Didn't they say it was done by the vampires?"

Su Mo curled his lips and shrugged helplessly, "There's nothing we can do. The police are limited, but the report they give us is just a supplement. We have to investigate the real thing ourselves."

"So the case won't be finalized directly?"

"Of course not."

"Why?" Ye Linghan asked.

"Because I don't want to close the case. My intuition tells me that this matter is not simple." Su Mo was very sure of his thoughts.

Ye Linghan stood there in a daze, and slowly said: "Relying on intuition... to solve the case?" Isn't that too much of a joke?

Su Mo shook his head and explained, "I don't rely on intuition to solve cases, I just trust my intuition. And it doesn't appear out of thin air, right?"

Trust your intuition...

That Yin Chen...

He angrily took a bite of the cold bun in his hand and dismissed the idea from his mind.

"Zhao Xingjian is already so old. I wonder which vampire is so tasteless to eat him and cause him to lose too much blood?" Ye Linghan frowned and put down the report in disgust. Judging from the photo, this man was the taxi driver from last time.

Could this be retribution in this life? He has the life to get the money but not the life to spend it. Although Ye Linghan has a bad impression of him and even hates him, his crime does not deserve the death penalty.

"Pfft, maybe he has a special fetish." Yao Qingluan laughed out loud

Su Mo handed a stack of photos to Ye Linghan, "How about you take a look at these?"

Ye Linghan took the photos, which were taken from various angles of Zhao Xingjian. One of the close-up photos was of the side of Zhao Xingjian's neck, with two bloody holes clearly visible on it, and white around the teeth marks.

Could it be that the vampire who bit him was a violent freak? There was something off about the tooth marks, but he couldn't quite place what was wrong.

"Have you heard of the Abnormal Scar Investigation Department?" Su Mo asked Ye Linghan.

He was very familiar with it, as his best friend Zhao Tang was there. This department was very special, recruiting only two people every three years. Zhao Tang was one of the lucky ones.

However, it was just a friend working there, so he wasn't completely familiar with it. So Ye Linghan just nodded and said, "I've heard a little bit about it."

"Then you're quite well-informed." Su Mo wasn't surprised by Ye Linghan's answer. "I heard they have top-notch equipment and technology. They can detect anything that others can't. But if there's something they can't detect, then it's all in vain for others."

In his memory, when Zhao Tang was in school, he was often too busy to go back to the dormitory to rest, and he stayed in the laboratory every day. From what he heard, it really fits the style of the Research and Investigation Department.

Since they're so powerful, wouldn't it be easy to solve the case by asking them for help? "Why not contact them directly?" Instead of taking a roundabout way to find the answer, it would be better to save time and trouble by using a one-click method.

Su Mo held his forehead and smiled bitterly, "If it's really that simple, why don't you think I went to look for it?"

He gently patted Ye Linghan's chest with some of the other information he had compiled. "Unless you're the son or grandson of that stuffy old professor, there might still be a glimmer of hope."

"But...at your age, you can't rely on a son, but maybe having a grandson is still a possibility."

Finally, on my first day as a slave, I felt the "bullying" in the workplace.

"Go to hell." Ye Linghan cursed with a smile.

After the two of them exchanged a few banter, the atmosphere became noticeably more harmonious. The Investigation Bureau, which had been cold for a long time, also gained some popularity with Ye Linghan's arrival.

"Brother, this is the newly organized case information provided by the police. I printed it out." Yao Qingluan said as he placed a copy of the information in front of each of them.

I have to say that having more people does make things faster. Although the police lack a bit of humanity, they are indeed very efficient.

"By the way, Qingluan, do you have the cigarette butt inspection report?"

"There should be." Yao Qingluan was not very sure because she had just received the report.

Ye Linghan looked down and found it, but it said: "No abnormality in ingredients."

Is it really okay? Ye Linghan wondered.

Perhaps it is true as Su Mo said, the equipment at the police station cannot detect all the components.

Fortunately, when he was at the scene, Ye Linghan found a cigarette butt in the gap between the cars and gave it to Zhao Tang for inspection when he had the chance.

But Ye Linghan didn't intend to tell these to Su Mo and Yao Qingluan at this time.

"Is there any problem?" Yao Qingluan asked.

"I think judging from the style of the cigarette butt, it doesn't seem to be a common cigarette on the market, but as a taxi driver, how could he afford to smoke such high-end cigarettes?

"I just looked at his information, and there aren't many valuable clues, so let's finish our meal quickly and go for a field visit to make some progress," Su Mo added.

Zhao Xingjian's home was some distance away from the investigation office, and they had to drive there. Yao Qingluan got up early in the morning, and the car was bumpy all the way, so she felt a little drowsy.

Ye Linghan's consciousness was not clear, but he wanted to know more, so he stayed awake and looked through the information.

It said that Zhao Xingjian's father died of illness when he was young, and his mother disappeared when he was twelve. He never went to school and had always relied on himself. Moreover, because he did not have enough diplomas, he never married or had children in his life and was lonely for most of his life.

My life is not satisfactory, but the things I do are not pitiful.

The car turned left and right and arrived at an old residential building with a garden. The paint on the wall had long since peeled off and cracked, and it was covered with thick ground weaving. The bottom was withered yellow, and the top was new and tender green, layer upon layer, and no one had cleaned it.

Ye Linghan followed Su Mo and Yao Qingluan out of the car. As soon as he came into contact with the air, he keenly felt something strange in the air.

"What's that smell? Can you smell it?" The smell irritated Ye Linghan and made him feel uncomfortable. He frowned and sniffed. He couldn't describe it. It was a fishy smell with a hint of sourness, and the smell of grass from plants.

In short, when they mix with each other and are emitted, they are not friendly to the human sense of smell.

When Yao Qingluan heard what Ye Linghan said, she sniffed very carefully. She didn't know whether Ye Linghan's sense of smell was sensitive or Yao Qingluan's was underdeveloped. Although she felt that the air here was not fresh, she didn't react as strongly as Ye Linghan did.

"It's okay, but it does smell bad."

"Well, it feels like something is broken, or maybe it's the smell of fertilizer being applied to the vegetables planted on the first floor." Su Mo looked left and right, looking for the entrance.

"But it looks like this vegetable garden has been abandoned for a while." Ye Linghan observed the yard in front of him that was surrounded by a fence.

When they first got off the car, several people were confused by the appearance. It turned out that the green atmosphere in the yard all came from the lush ground ivy.

They rush to break out of the ground to see the light again.

It’s strange, why does the ground ivy here seem to have such tenacious vitality?

Ye Linghan narrowed his eyes and looked towards the other small courtyard. He could clearly feel that, in comparison with the two courtyards, even though both were covered with green plants, the one in front of Ye Linghan was indeed more lush than the one in the distance.